Monday, May 9, 2011

Sophocles - Oedipus Rex

"Oedipus Rex is one of those awkward tragedies. The first time I read it I was lost. It’s a Greek mythology. This text includes extemporaneous factors."

"Don't bother reading this hogwash! This play is garbage! The whole plot is bleeding stupidity!

The prophesy said that Oedipus would kill his father; later to add that he would marry his mother! The characters so clueless that they can't put together the facts! His ankles, for goodness sakes, are a dead give away! Once his father died, and a new suitor became available for the throne and Jacosta's hand in marriage, it was so obvious Oedipus was her son! Why would she marry a man around the age of her supposed dead son, after her husband was murdered? Shouldn't she be able to tell that the killer of her husband was her son? Meaning he would return home to wed her! The dialogue dragged on and on, and wasn't necessary; it was so very boring! Oedipus was so annoying that I wanted to kill him myself; he is not even a true tragic hero! The plot was conveniently done so it worked, but it's not plausible! This is the worst piece of literature I have read! I almost fell asleep during it in class! The only reason the play is famous is because of the Oedipus complex! Either this play is his worse, or Sophocles is a horrible author/ playwright!"

"Yeah, he marries his mom, we got it."

"Oedipus Rex was not very intriguing to me because it was hard to understand and I could not follow the characters very well. I would suggest that they revise it to make it fit today’s standards more appropriately."

"I did not like this play. There were many things that a good play has to have that this did not. For example characters, setting, conflict, and the main theme."

"I am still having nightmares. No one needs to read these descriptive words and imagine the filthy images portrayed in this play. I cannot even imagine how messed up Sophocles' mind was ... Also, just as a side note, when you rearrange Sophocles’ name, it spells Cop Holes."

"i read this some time in high school. it's pretty pointless, in my opinion. although maybe i didn't get much out of it in high school. maybe it's actually a critique of power and hierarchy. well, i don't care enough to find out."

"Oedipus Rex was not as good as I thought it would because it did not meet the criteria that I thought to make a good book. It was very dull and was not understandable to me. The writing style was more of a Greek style and kind of random. It did not have a very good attention grabber which is one of my main criteria and what keeps me wanting to read the book."

"Sophocles convinces me the Greeks get far too much credit for developing drama."

"Negatively, it began to get confusing and completely understand where the plot was going due to the language the author wrote in."

"I found three different online translations of Oedipus the King and read them in parallel to help assure I was getting most of the nuances. Hmmm. When I rate something extremely old like this, I ask myself, what would happen if a modern playwright wrote something similar? My best guess at the answer is that he wouldn't have any chance at all of getting it produced. It's rather dull, and what characterization it has lacks subtlety ... As an artifact from the past, it is interesting and educational. As entertainment judged with no handicapping, even modern television writers routinely do better."

"As I was reading this book , I thought this book was totally and ridiculously weird that Oedipushad a actual physical and sexual relationship with his mother. In today’s society that’s just somethingthat can’t be said. But if you actually read again then in those days it was like an abomination . As Ibegan to read further it had some details that was explicit (jocasta and Oedipus). But I think whatreally makes this book a good is that they had some strange situations that made you think in deepconcentration to what would you do. It’s also a good book because it has mortals vs. the gods . That’slike crazy like humans vs. different god’s with different powers. I don’t know . This book is weirdin so many ways ."

"Would i recommend this book 2000 years ago? Of course. Would i recommend it now? Of course not. This was probably a very captivating book back in the day, but for a modern audience, its a lackluster book to say the least. Guy kills his Dad and porks his mother, I'm not really sure how this became a mainstream story that people would take their family to see. Only in ancient Greece. The story line wasn't even very interesting, just blind guys, incest and murder. Let me know when the Thunder Crusher comes in and blows everything up. Not only was the book not interesting, but the author only has one name. I mean come on. How can you take someone seriously when they have one name and is very similar to the word 'testicles'?"

"After reading Oedipus Rex I felt like it was ridiculous that Oedipus and his mothers were married. I didn’t understand how they never knew they were related, even worse that they were mother and son. This was not a book I enjoyed, other than the eye gouging and mother lovin’ it was a boring. I could not stay engaged with the story. The characters were completely unrelated able."

"It wasnt that good because there are a lot of hidden messages in the book. Also it is very compliated. This play is about a a kings prophecy that unfolds to come true. This causes a lot of trouble in his kingdom."